Out
by Co-Quill-Eon
Summary: The moment Stefan walks into the Gilbert kitchen he knows Damon is up to something. :: Sequel to 'Scent' ::


**A/N: As requested by a few of you, here is the sequel to the fic 'Scent.' Enjoy!**

::

The moment Stefan walks into the Gilbert kitchen he knows Damon is up to something.

His brother isn't doing anything overtly suspicious, but Stefan has known him long enough to recognize the glint in his eye and the small devious smile that is tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Alaric Saltzman is helping Jenna and Elena set the table, and the latter smiles softly at him before setting the salad bowl down, and makes her way towards him.

"Hey," she murmurs, and gives him a soft kiss on the mouth. His attention is drawn away from Damon for a moment, who is still looking pleased at something only he knows, to focus on his girlfriend. He smiles down at her, and presses his lips to hers again.

"Hey," he says against her mouth, and she rubs her nose against his before taking his hand and leading him towards the table. Stefan notices that Tyler Lockwood is already there as well, and he's not the least bit surprised. One glance at Damon, and Stefan realizes that he's not surprised either; not that anything is strange about this; Damon's sense of smell is even more keen than his own, so Stefan knows that he's aware of the change in Jeremy and Tyler's relationship. What's strange about Damon seeing Tyler at the dinner table is the fact that he seems _happy _about it.

Stefan sits down next to Elena and across from his brother whom narrows his eyes at. Sensing his gaze Damon looks up and grins from his seat.

They all settle in their seats around the table; Jeremy at one end, Alaric, Stefan, and Elena on his left, while Jenna, Damon, and Tyler are on his right. Once comfortable they start eating and chatting idly. Stefan keeps his eye on Damon as the conversation flows from smaller individual ones to group discussions. It is during one such group conversation when things start getting out of control.

They are halfway through dinner when Jenna looks over at Damon.

"So, Damon. You've been back in Mystic Falls for awhile now. Has anyone caught your eye?" The majority of the occupants at the table try not to look at each other as they each remember the whole Caroline debacle.

Damon clears his throat before he answers and gives Jenna that self depreciating smile he's learned to perfect over a hundred and fifty year time span. "Sadly to say, no. Even though Mystic Falls hasn't changed in the way of being _packed _ with good looking women, I haven't found one that's quite my... flavor."

Stefan and Elena's eyes dart to each other quickly, and Stefan sees Alaric glare hard at Damon, but Jenna sees neither of these, as she is still faced the other way.

"Really? Not even one," she prods playfully.

Damon seems to think, even though Stefan already knows he has an answer ready. And sure enough- "Well there is _one. _But she's off limits. For now anyway. Though, I'm not expecting _that_ arrangement to work out for much longer." He then reaches for his glass of water and as he places it to his lips, take the opportunity to wink at his brother. Stefan shows no reaction to this, but under the table he squeezes Elena's leg gently.

Jenna is interested now. "Oh, really? Do I know them?"

Damon sets his glass down and smirks. "Ah ah ah," he chides, "No telling that. At least not yet. Don't want to jinx it." Jenna laughs lightly and nods, letting the matter go.

There is a small comfortable lull in conversation where they all eat a few more bites of food. The silence is broken when Damon speaks up again. 'What about you Jeremy?'

Stefan's eyes narrow at his brother's genial tone and pleasant smile. _What is he..._

"Hm?" Jeremy has just taken a bite of food, and doesn't open his mouth to answer. Out of the corner of his eye, Stefan can see Tyler hasn't lifted his gaze from his plate to look over at his boyfriend, but his movements have slowed slightly.

"You seem to have a extra _spring_ in your step nowadays," Damon elaborates, and he does that eyebrow thing that annoys Stefan so much. "Lucky lady?"

Jeremy swallows his food somewhat hastily and clears his throat. "Ah, no. No one."

"Really?" Damon leans forward slightly, smirking, light eyes alight with mischief. "No one?"

Elena perks up now. She's noticed the change in her brother lately, Stefan knows, but she hasn't asked him about it, not wanting to scare him away or just shut up completely about it. But now that Damon has brought it up, she seems to think now is the right time to ask. "Damon's right, Jer. You have seemed happier lately. Distracted, you hum more. Not to mention, you've been gazing off into space and smiling more in general. Who is it?" She smiles warmly at her little brother, and Stefan's heart skips a little at the expression, even if it isn't aimed at him this time.

Both Jenna and Alaric are peering at Jeremy now, whose cheeks have a pink tinge to them. Stefan is sure Jeremy doesn't want Tyler to know just how much he affects him, but it's too late now. Stefan looks over at Tyler and, yup, he's gazing at Jeremy now with an odd look in his eye. Stefan stifles a small smile.

"Oh, that would be great," Jenna says, also smiling. "Not to put the pressure on, but you could invite her over anytime you want, you know. We won't bite."

Stefan can't help the small twitch in the corner of his left eye at her choice of words.

"Um, I," Jeremy stumbles, thrown off by being the center of attention.

"Does she go to the school?" Jenna asks, grinning, not unkindly, a little at his discomfort. She looks at Alaric. "Have you seen him buddy buddy with anyone new lately?"

All eyes turn to Alaric, who's own eyes widen at the sudden shift in attention. "Uh," he shrugs kind of helplessly, and Stefan kind of feels bad for the guy. This is only his second family dinner, so he's not really used to... any of this. But then again, Damon doesn't usually cause mischief at these dinners. Because Stefan had caught on by now just exactly what his brother is pulling, but he has decided not to interfere. Even though he knows the reason behind Damon's game isn't admirable, the end result is what's really for the best. Jeremy needs to know that he needn't hide himself from any of them.

Well, maybe Damon, but for entirely different reasons. Everyone should hide from Damon.

Alaric is still struggling to answer. "Uh, no one really. You know, except Tyler-"

"There really is no one!" Jeremy pronounces a little more loudly then necessary, and his face is flushed even more, and Stefan can hear two heartbeats at the table racing.

Stefan feels Elena deflate slightly next to him, and Damon brother gives a mock nod of concern. Stefan is sure he is the only one that sees it for what it really is.

"Shame." He takes another sip of his water, and Stefan thinks Damon is done, but then he turns to Tyler. "What about you?"

All eyes shift to Tyler, who tears his eyes away from Jeremy, who is refusing to meet his gaze. "What?" Tyler's tone is slightly defensive, but then again, Tyler is almost always defensive so no one pays any mind.

"Got any one special?" Damon looks like the predator he is.

"Oh, no. No girl." And even though he handles the question better than Jeremy, his tone isn't entirely too convincing.

Stefan wonders vaguely how is brother is going to segue into what he really wants to bring up.

"Really?" Damon's leans over and his voice lowers an octave, "so... a guy then?"

Right. No segue then.

Before anyone can ask why Damon would even ask a question like that, Jeremy's hand gives a violent, involuntary jerk, which hits his glass. Water spills onto Alaric and he jumps up, lap sopping wet. Elena leans away from the mess automatically, but then grabs a napkin to pat at the table.

"I'm so sorry." Jeremy's hands are shaking, and his face is red as he tries to dab Alaric dry.

"I'm pretty sure he can do it himself." Tyler almost barks and Stefan's eyes dart to him. He's gripping his fork, and his jaw is set, Damon's seemingly random question forgotten for the moment.

Jeremy doesn't stop what he's doing, even though Alaric seems to be trying to push his hands away. His mutters of 'It's fine, I've got it' are drowned out by Jeremy's irritated voice, which snaps back. "Well, I just dumped water into his lap. I can at least help, Tyler."

"He's a big boy. He can do it himself." Tyler bites back and he and Jeremy glare at each other. There is an awkward heavy silence, and after a few long moments Jeremy looks away first and mutters something that sounds like 'always doing this.' Stefan thinks he's the only one who's heard until Jenna, who's been watching her nephew mop off her boyfriend's crotch says, "What?"

"Huh?"It is unclear if Jeremy is feigning ignorance or he really doesn't realize what he's just said aloud.

Elena speaks now. "You just said he always does this. What does Tyler always do?"

"Yes," Damon looks absolutely diabolical now, "what _does _Tyler always do?"

Jeremy's hands freeze, and Alaric whose eyes cannot get any wider, seems to not want to move, lest he set off.., what ever the hell is about to happen now.

The silence goes on and on and on, until Elena, brave, lovely, Elena clears her throat. "What does he mean Jere?" she asks quietly, as if she is approaching a wild animal. Stefan thinks the tone is appropriate, as Jeremy's eyes, which are already doe like, are wide and frightened. He doesn't answer, and his bottom lip seems to want to quiver, and in that moment Stefan sees him for what he actually is; a scared, confused, freshman, who's just been outed in front of his family, his sister's boyfriend, and his History teacher. He forgets sometimes how old Jeremy is, with his broad shoulders, and eyes that carry so much sadness already.

"Jere..." Jenna says quietly, and puts her hand on his arm, most likely to gently remove his hands from Alaric's crotch. Jeremy jumps slightly at the touch, and his eyes dart to hands before he drops them. He looks as if he wants to cover his face, but instead he sets his hands down on the table, and twists the damp napkin between his fingers.

Elena tries again. "Jeremy... are you..." she seems hesitant to say the word; not because she has anything against it, but Jeremy looks ready to bolt. "Are you... gay, Jeremy?"

There is more silence, and then Tyler blurts out, "he's with me," at the exact moment Jeremy blurts out, "it's just Tyler. He-."

All eyes are on Tyler now, and he looks just as scared as Jeremy does for a moment, before his usual defiant air is back. "I care about him." He says it as if he is challenging all of them. Both Jenna and Alaric look as if their eyes are about to pop out of their heads, Damon looks triumphant, Elena looks downright shocked and confused, and adorable (Stefan wants to nuzzle her neck. Just saying), and Jeremy. Jeremy looks surprised, and embarrassed, and relieved, but his eyes have lost their scared animal look and have taken on another. A soft, happy look fills them as he watches Tyler, and Stefan is sure he doesn't know he's giving the expression.

"What?" It's Elena's turn to blurt something out. "Since when?" Her eyes and voice take on a steely edge. "You've always hated Jeremy. You would always beat him up! Why have you changed your mind now? I swear, Tyler, if this is some... some... _trick _to _hurt_ Jeremy, I will-"

"Elena," Jeremy cuts in, but Tyler interrupts him.

"I know that. I mean, I know that we haven't gotten along that well before," Damon snorts at this, and Elena shoots him a glare. "But that's... this isn't..." Tyler looks extremely uncomfortable, which isn't a surprise in itself; Tyler Lockwood doesn't talk about feelings or anything resembling them, _ever_, and now he's being forced to do it in front of an audience that includes his History teacher.

It's quiet again until Jeremy speaks. "It's not a trick, Elena." He looks at his sister, and she looks back at him, her gaze softening again as she does. Everyone knows that she's protective of him, and guards his feelings more than she does her own. After their parents, and Vicki, and then Anna... Well, can anyone blame her?

And it seems as if Jeremy can't, because he communicates this through his eyes, and he also seems to convince her that he's going to be fine this time, because she sighs and looks back at Tyler. "Do your parents know? Or, I mean," she gets flustered.

Tyler lets her off the hook. "No, dad didn't know before he... and mom doesn't know now. At least not yet."

"And we'd really appreciate it if you didn't say anything, Elena," Jeremy says. "To anybody. It's still... we just... this isn't how-"

"It's alright Jeremy." Elena smiles, and reaches over to take his hand, which has stilled on the napkin. "I understand. We all do. We won't mention anything." She looks at everyone, and they all nod in agreement, except Damon who twiddles his thumbs and looks at the ceiling until her glare becomes to much; he sighs dramatically before rolling his eyes and says, "Yeah don't worry, Jeremy. I would _never_-." There's a thump under the table, and even though Elena's kick couldn't possibly have hurt him, he says "ow" anyway and glares at her. "Fine, fine. I _promise."_ The majority of the table knows that usually a Damon promise means nothing, but he seems to mean it, and it's what Jeremy needs to hear, because he visibly relaxes.

"Thanks."

There is another long silence until Jenna gets up and starts clearing the table. "Does anyone want dessert?" she asks. She's smiling as she does, and Stefan knows that even though this was a shock for her, she really is happy that Jeremy is happier now, that he has somebody that isn't family to turn to. Even though she's never been good at handling it, she's just as worried about Jeremy as Elena is. "Ric, come and get your pants dried off." Alaric seems glad to have a reason to escape his corner and picks up some plates.

Elena rises to help, and as she picks up Jeremy's plate, she leans down to kiss his hair, and his eyes close briefly at the contact. The remaining four guys sit at the table quietly; Jeremy and Tyler taking turns looking at each other when the other isn't looking, and blushing furiously when their eyes meet, and Damon is, of course, looking smug.

He takes another sip of his water, before leaning towards Jeremy. "So, tell me more, tell me more," he begins in a low voice laced with mirth, his eyebrows going crazy, "does, like, he have a car?"


End file.
